SCHOOL SYSTEM BOND

There’s yet another instance of poor judgment by top administrators in the Dougherty County School System.

Superintendent Joshua Murfree and Assistant Superintendent Kenneth Goseer reimbursed parents for bond money after they complained about their daughter’s arrest at school. The school board attorney says that may be an unlawful expenditure of school system money, and the District Attorney is now investigating.

Goseer said he believed the arrest was improper, and Murfree said he was trying to avoid a potential lawsuit, but school police insist the arrest was warranted after the student cursed at a teacher and disrupted class.

Goseer also sent the school police chief an email ordering him not to make any arrests without the approval of the Superintendent. The chief refused to follow that directive because it’s not legal.

Murfree now says he only wanted to be kept in the loop on arrests, and he agreed to make sure school money is not used again to pay bond for students. But these issues should never have come up in the first place.

The school system needs strong leaders who aren’t afraid to make tough decisions, but those tough decisions need to be smart and well-thought out. In this case, Murfree and Goseer failed on both accounts.

Sumter County Commissioner

A Sumter County Commissioner stands accused of the ultimate in political corruption……offering up his vote in exchange for cash.

Commissioner Al Hurley was indicted by a federal grand jury Monday and charged with asking for, and receiving more than 20-thousand dollars from an out-of-state contractor.

Prosecutors say Hurley promised a Michigan contractor that he’d get work in Sumter County in exchange for the cash.

What a disgrace. If these charges are true, Al Hurley has not only broken the law, but he’s embarrassed himself, his family, and his community and made a mockery of the Sumter County Board of Commissioners.

While acknowledging that everyone is innocent until proven guilty, we believe Hurley’s continued presence at the commission table will be a distraction and we call on him to remove himself from office until this case is resolved.